Tools

Come Out & Show Them: Sylvan Esso, Oak City Slums

When: Fri., Oct. 7, 10 p.m. 2016

FRIDAY OCTOBER 7 & SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8

COME OUT & SHOW THEM

The devastation wrought by HB 2 has galvanized the artistic community in the Triangle like no other political issue in recent memory. Come Out & Show Them: A Benefit to Take Back Our State looks to be one of the most prominent events yet spurred into being by the so-called bathroom bill. Some of the Triangle's biggest musical names have signed on, an indication of a willingness to come together and take a strong stand against bigotry and divisiveness. The depth and breadth of the artists involved testify to the strength of opposition to the law, enacted in secret by the legislature in March and wreaking havoc statewide ever since.

Friday night opens with a straightforward one-two punch at Kings, with rapper Oak City Slums and the silky, good-vibes grooves of area favorites Sylvan Esso. It's the next night where things turn into a something like Hopscotch in miniature, with five venues presenting bills of five or six acts each, leaving festivalgoers with a potentially complicated list of commitment problems. You can mix and match a multiflavored evening, or you can settle in for a masterfully curated bill of kindred spirits. Hip-hop will reign at Ruby Deluxe, with Well$, Ace Henderson, and Professor Toon. Over at Slim's, The Veldt and Lacy Jags will lean hard on their effects pedals, yielding to heavy metal from Demon Eye before the mighty American Aquarium takes it home. Kings is all about Southern roots, with a lineup that includes Mipso, Tift Merritt, and Mount Moriah, and Neptunes will jump with Body Games's dreamy electronica, GRRL's inventive club beats, and a danceable mix by the estimable DJ Chocolate Rice.

Come Out & Show Them is also the name of the event's organizing group, a Raleigh-based nonprofit founded by journalist/activists Tina and Grayson Haver Currin (disclosure: Tina is an INDY contributor and Grayson is a former INDY editor). The event's beneficiaries include Common Cause and Democracy N.C., groups that fight for equitable outcomes in the political sphere, along with Southerners on New Ground, which works on behalf of the LGBTQ community. Recently, we've seen ample evidence of the widespread unpopularity of HB 2, and the diversity of the musical acts gathered for this event mirrors the diversity and lively spirit the event hopes to promote further in a post-Pat McCrory North Carolina. —David Klein